Our team at Special Needs Book Review thanks the 120 authors who have now taken part in our Author Interview Series. We look forward to receiving each completed interview as they are absolutely awesome! Their responses are extensions of their books with the same wonderful information for the many parents of children with special needs who read our posts. Today’s post brings you ten special needs parenting books we reviewed with excerpts from the interviews we had with each author.
Each title of their books are linked to our post introducing the book and the name of the author links to the complete interview. The original posts have convenient links where to buy the books. Some authors have written more than one book; however, in this post I will mention only one and you can find the other books in the original posts.
Dixie Fremont-Smith Coskie
Unthinkable: A Mother’s Tragedy, Terror and Triumph through a Child’s Traumatic Brain Injury
Dixie F-S Coskie is passionate about being a mother, writer, fundraiser, public speaker, and advocate for the disabled. She is not just the mother of 8 children, she is a mom holding her family together after one child suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). She pours out her heart in a memoir revealing her raw emotions and her family’s fight to bring back their son, Paul, to his former self. The severe trauma to his head leaves Paul clinging to life, two months in a coma followed by almost five months in a rehabilitation hospital.
My family chose to react to our situation with a sense of faith, hope, patience, and a lot of love, humor, and passion. Those of us who have had a brush with death realize more deeply how fleeting life is. Make it great! Tell others often how much you love them and try never to take any one for granted.
Melanie Fowler
Look at my Eyes: #Autism Spectrum Disorders: Autism and PDD-NOS – Early Intervention and Navigating the System
~Book has advice for when a child has just been diagnosed with special needs. Melanie and Seth Fowler, author-parents, will take you by the hand and show you the ropes.
It is really important for parents to understand that there must be an assessment first before any decisions are made regarding treatment for autism. You must choose what is the right approach for your child and your family. You, as the parent, have a big role in
the treatment plan because you know your child better than anyone else.
Jolene Philo
Different Dream Parenting: A Practical Guide to Raising a Child with Special Needs
~ Jolene’s book takes you by the hand and leads you from your first step after your gut feeling warns you something is not quite right with your child. She counsels you how to get that all important diagnosis, the services, the treatment, the support, and guides you through the education system, the insurance and government red tape, and at the same time, if you are someone of faith, the scriptural references will inspire and comfort you. Yes, all parents of a child with special needs can benefit from Different Dream Parenting!
Parenting is stressful. Parenting a child with special needs is exponentially more stressful because those kids need more time, energy, resources, and creativity than do typical kids. Pretty soon, spouses have no time to communicate or spend time with one another. Parents of kids with special needs must be very intentional about carving out time for one another. They also need to educate others about how to care for their child with special needs and their typical kids so they can get away now and then. It’s so easy to buy into the lie that no one else can care for our kids as well as we can. But if we educate extended family members, trusted friends, or in-home care providers, they can fill in now and then. Parents should also take advantage of respite services offered by care facilities or churches. They can also swap care with other families to get some time away.
Kathy Labosh
The Child with Autism at Home & in the Community: Over 600 Must-Have Tips
by Kathy Labosh and LaNita Miller ~Ms. Labosh is mom of two adult sons with autism, she has successfully written this ‘book of instructions’ for parents, grandparents, friends and professionals on how to make life easier for the caregiver and easier for the child. Her book is a helpful tool filled with 600 bullet point, practical tips and tried-out strategies for families and educators to use to meet the needs of autistic children.
When I talk about autism putting your wedding vows to the test, what I mean is that especially early on, you are at your neediest. You are incredibly tired and stressed. You are worried about your kids, finances, getting the right help for your child, and the person who is supposed to be your main support is in the same shape. You can think if your spouse was doing his share I wouldn’t be feeling so overwhelmed. The truth is you would be. Autism is just an overwhelming experience especially in the beginning. Husbands can feel neglected, wives can feel abandoned, the house is a disaster… The best tip I have in that section is each parent needs a guaranteed night away from home every week, preferably on the same night.
Michele Gianetti
I Believe in You: A Mother and Daughter’s Special Journey
~Michele describes the challenges they faced raising a child with special needs. Their daughter, now a teen, was diagnosed with dyspraxia, a neurological disorder affecting motor skill development and sensory processing disorder, also a neurological disorder, which causes difficulties with taking in, processing and responding to sensory information.
My advice to parents is truly listen to what your inner voice is telling you. Please do not try to quiet that voice with excuses or denial, as that will only let time pass. And you cannot get that back. I think since there is always that span that is given for a child to learn to talk or walk etc that health professionals may try to comfort the parent that their child is just late achieving milestones etc. But even if you are told this, I think it is so important never to negate the fact that you live with this child and see how and what they do all day. You see how they do in public situations or with peer groups. It is this knowledge that can fortify you to seek out that next evaluation and/or specialist. I think it is so important to trust your instincts and that quiet voice.
Chynna Laird
Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With Sensory Processing Disorder ( SPD)
~This book is, above all, for parents. The readers will appreciate how Chynna is able to weave in lots of relevant information in laymen’s terms about sensory processing disorder (SPD). The author explains all the pros and cons of treatments and educational programs available. Readers learn about the senses, the signs of SPD, support groups, and sensory diets. We cheer Chynna on when reading about the many sensible ways she helped her beautiful, little girl whose brain doesn’t understand how to process all the stimulations coming at her so she lives in fear.
As far as changes to the home environment, you have to incorporate movement, games and opportunity for your child to practice what he’s learning in therapy. In our case, we have kids with really high sensory needs so we changed the basement into a little sensory gym. We have a climbing wall, three different kinds of swings, acrobatic rings, different kinds of weighted objects, a trampoline, a ramp, scooter boards and different kinds of things to crash on and into. Our kids have extremely high proprioception and vestibular needs so we have inside tools and get our outside stuff too (outside exercise is vital!) But not every child needs to have these kinds of additions. You’re therapist will give you suggestions based on what your child’s specific needs and interests are.
Julie Clark
Asperger’s in PINK: Raising a Child with Asperger’s
~Julie Clark, a writer, an artist, an advocate and a mom explains in detail the adaptations, alterations and perseverance needed to win their daily battles in raising Kristina with Asperger’s syndrome (AS). These battles were sometimes with their immediate family, their friends, medical and school systems and sometimes with Kristina or even with their own insecurities
The hope is that the book would speak to families, to let them know there are other families out there who are walking the same path as they are. They may feel alone, but they are not alone. School professionals and extended family are another audience I’m trying to reach. By personalizing the journey, the hope is that they will gain a view into the world of families like ours, and know that many of us really are trying to do the best by our kids. But we also could use loving, (patient) guidance, and acceptance along the way.
Margaret Meder
Uncommon Beauty – Crisis Parenting From Day One
~This is the book all parents of children with special healthcare needs must get their hands on. Margaret Meder, mom of a child with Apert syndrome, never belittles your feelings of despair because you can read, sometimes to get by, she too had to live minute by minute. She writes when Evan was one year old, “The never-ending pressure, sleepless nights, worry, grief, and self-doubt are the biggest players—all working together to bring us down.” At the end she tells readers that the moment they became parents of a medically fragile child they entered into a family crisis. Their lives were in a complete upheaval. You will feel confident that to seek therapy for the parents and the siblings is not being weak but wise. Counseling, the author tells us, should be considered in the beginning of the crisis…to learn the life skills necessary to survive all the trials ahead of you.
Finding strategies to manage the hard days (which seem so out of sink with life, my plans and intentions) is my current mission. The hardest part about this life is accepting that the calm days can be fleeting. And the centered emotions that flow with calm days are fleeting: having stability, enjoying good health, feeling rested, finishing a round of appointments and surgeries. There is a constantly changing ebb and flow to our lives, moving between crisis and moments of peaceful flourishing. Managing this ebb and flow is what can be overwhelming.>
Ellen Notbohm
Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew Updated Edition
~People in all walks of life are saying only great things about this book. A few adjectives used are positive, inspirational, insightful, intelligent, and emphatic. Ellen Notbohm, a mother of sons with autism and ADHD, writes from experience and from the heart. Her positive messages cross over to families of children with many special needs. Ms. Notbohm’s book is like the coach in your game of life. She has the basic rules of survival and the plays needed to reach your goals. This tenacious mom’s guidebook touches all the bases from early childhood to early adulthood. She admits their parenting journey was difficult at times. This honestly will endear her to parents who will feel she knows what they are going through.
As young people approach the end of high school, the emotions can be overwhelming, everything from impatience to anticipation and exhilaration to trepidation and anxiety. They are leaving behind familiar people, routines and environments. Many want to rush toward it, disregarding the responsibilities and opportunities that precede it. We sometimes call this “senioritis.” But that last year of high school can be one of sweet, memorable transition moments worth savouring. For my sons, there were senior portraits, last swim meets and track meets, last field trips, choosing tuxes and corsages for prom, skip day celebrations, 18th birthdays and registering to vote. It’s not only a time to enjoy the long goodbye, but to choose savoring the moment as a life skill, to begin to understand that always barrelling towards the future without ever stopping to smell those clichéd roses might bring on regrets later.
Natalie Hale
Down Syndrome Parenting 101: Must-Have Advice for Making Your Life Easier ~
Ms. Hale weaves personal experience with her own son who has Down syndrome, her professional advice from teaching reading to children with Down syndrome, and other families’ stories. She addresses many areas of concern for caregivers raising or teaching a child with Down syndrome. Readers appreciate her friendly tone as she doles out strategies as if she were a trusted friend. Her honest, sensible, and sometimes humorous advice stays with you long after you have finished reading her book.
The endearing quality, far and away, is their nonjudgmental, unconditional love. When you are hugged by a child with Down syndrome, you know you’ve been hugged! It’s as if there is no barrier between their heart and yours. Be sure to read my chapters on “Other Gifts” and “Extraordinary Awareness” to see what I’m talking about. Their sense of humour is not far behind. As parents (and educators as well), we experience many moments of hilarity because of things our all-wise-children do and say. They have no filters; if you’re making a bad choice of any kind, they’re going to let you know pronto. They won’t hesitate to let you know you’re off course. Which brings me to the second part of your question:
The difficult behaviour typically has to do with non-compliant or stubborn behaviour. This can be very challenging to deal with on a daily basis, especially when the child grows too big to drag from one required activity to the next. (See the chapters “Born To Rule,” and “The Non-Compliance Face Off.”) Parents often become—against their preference—behavioural experts out of necessity.
Once more I am awed at the quality, the profound messages, each author has sent us. The team at Special Needs Book Review thanks all who took part in our Author Interview Series and for the books, information and material to review the books.